The 2022 session was a year of significant appropriations, particularly for large-scale water projects. It also brought about new environmental laws. We summarize these, and other laws of interest, below. The Second Regular Session of the 107th Nebraska Legislature adjourned sine die last week on April 20, 2022. That marked […]
Environmental Pulse
Nebraska Craft Brewers and Distilleries Score Victories before the Legislature
LB 1236 gives craft brewers a limited right to self-distribute and store their beer offsite, and distilleries the right to have up to five locations. Vanessa Silke was instrumental in advocating for the bill’s enactment. Following the Nebraska Legislature’s adjournment sine die on April 20, 2022, one bill that will […]
Nebraska Legislature Tries to Jump Start a Local Clean-Hydrogen Industry
Under LB 1099, Nebraska must seek federal funding to create a regional hydrogen hub. If selected, the state could receive $2 billion to help develop a commercially viable clean-hydrogen industry. Under a bill enacted into law in March 2022, Nebraska has positioned itself to become a national hub of hydrogen […]
Supreme Court Reinstates Trump Rule for State Certifications Under the Clean Water Act
A federal judge had enjoined a Trump-era rule limiting states’ discretion to certify projects under the Clean Water Act. But in Lousiana v. American Rivers, the Supreme Court reinstated Trump’s rule. In an emergency order in April 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a lower court’s decision to grant a […]
Supreme Court Considers EPA’s Authority to Regulate the Electric Industry’s Greenhouse-Gas Emissions
Under review is a Trump administration rule that relaxed greenhouse-gas regulations for power plants. Challengers, who argue that those regulations lacked statutory authority in the first instance, would give new life to coal- and gas-fired plants. On February 28, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in West Virginia […]